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Examining the Legacy of Transgenerational Trauma and Its Effects on Contemporary African American Adults in Parenting and Caregi Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Summer 8-11-2018 Examining the Legacy of Transgenerational Trauma and its Effects on Contemporary African American Adults in Parenting and Caregiver Roles to African American Adolescents Amy E. Alexander Duquesne University Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Alexander, A. E. (2018). Examining the Legacy of Transgenerational Trauma and its Effects on Contemporary African American Adults in Parenting and Caregiver Roles to African American Adolescents (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1487 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXAMINING THE LEGACY OF TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ITS EFFECTS ON CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN ADULTS IN PARENTING AND CAREGIVER ROLES TO AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS A Dissertation Submitted to the School of Education Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Amy E. Alexander August 2018 Copyright by Amy E. Alexander 2018 Duquesne University School of Education Department of Counseling, Psychology and Education Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) Executive Counselor Education and Supervision Program Presented by: Amy E. Alexander B.S., California University of Pennsylvania, 1995 M.S. Ed., Duquesne University, 2000 June 18, 2018 Examining the Legacy of Transgenerational Trauma and its Effects on Contemporary African American Adults in Parenting and Caregiver Roles to African American Adolescents Approved by: ________________________________________________, Chair Lisa Lopez Levers, Ph.D. Professor of Counselor Education Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership School of Education, Duquesne University ____________________________________________, Member Waganesh Zeleke, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Counselor Education Department of Counseling, Psychology and Education School of Education, Duquesne University ______________________________________, Member Gibbs Kanyongo, Ph.D. Professor of Educational Statistics Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership School of Education, Duquesne University iii ABSTRACT EXAMINING THE LEGACY OF TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA AND ITS EFFECTS ON CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN AMERICAN ADULTS IN PARENTING AND CAREGIVER ROLES TO AFRICAN AMERICAN ADOLESCENTS By Amy E. Alexander August 2018 Dissertation supervised by Professor Lisa Lopez Levers, Ph.D. The system of institutional enslavement in North America has produced myriad effects on the contemporary African American community via the transmission of individual, familial, and collective trauma across generations (Carter, 2015; DeGruy, 2005; Weingarten, 2004). This research explored the roles of parent and caregiver within this cultural group in an effort to determine how past events have influenced the lived experiences and world view of African Americans in these roles. While research on certain historically marginalized cultural and religious groups is plentiful, there is a clear lacuna of scholarly investigation into the African American experience, particularly as it relates to the roles of parent and caregiver. Parenting is among the most significant of human endeavors. The impact of parenting and care-giving on future generations is immeasurable; it is the apex of humanity. A great majority of the world’s cultures and religions iv place unequaled value on parenting as well as acting in the place of parents, as in the case of caregivers. These roles are even considered sacred within many groups. For these reasons, this aspect of the African American lived experience was examined in this research. This qualitative investigation was conducted within the framework of hermeneutic phenomenology, which allows for meaningful, organic exploration. Data were collected from three focus groups composed of six African American adults who were at least 35 years of age and who have acted as a parent or caregiver to at least one African American adolescent. The participants were recruited in the greater Pittsburgh area via posters, in-person conversations, and using purposive and snowball sampling. Video of the focus groups, participant observation, and a reflective journal were used for assistance in analyzing the data. The inquiry examined and presented various theories in order to offer a comprehensive background related to this topic. Transgenerational trauma theory provided the foundation for this research, along with cultural trauma and historical trauma theories. Supplemental investigations of self-determination theory, critical race theory, racial/ethnic identity development theory/nigrescence, race-based trauma theory, post traumatic slave syndrome, and acculturative stress theory also were incorporated in an effort to provide a comprehensive perspective. After analyzing the emergent themes resulting from the data collection process, findings suggested that several factors contributed to African American parenting styles, traditions, and perceptions. Among the most ubiquitous were fear, control, punishment, and separation. Fear has been used to take and maintain control over certain populations within American culture. The data indicated that the fear used against African Americans to usurp societal control over them has been integrated into the parenting and caregiving philosophies of many and used as a method v to maintain control of their children. Several participants expressed the idea that they control their children, much in the same way American systems such as the criminal justice system, have historically tried to control African Americans, because it will keep them safe from others’ punishment. Study results also indicated that much in the same way fear and control have been used to maintain power by the majority race, so have punishment and separation. Often, these more prevalent themes implicated the American criminal justice system as a key factor of oppression. Not only has it had the power to mete out punishment, but also to disenfranchise people, affect economic status, and instigate separation within families and from society. Historically, these same tactics have been used against African Americans and have maintained the cycle of transferred or transgenerational trauma symptoms to the extent that they have become embedded in the culture via the parenting relationship. These exploratory research findings have suggested multiple factors that affect how parenting and caregiving are viewed in the contemporary African American community. This inquiry aimed to encapsulate how past collective traumas have been integrated into the lived experiences of African Americans and to illuminate the effects of the transferred trauma. The current research indicated that trauma effects have been transmitted via familial and cultural means, which have become manifest in the parent and caregiver relationships in various forms that can be better understood within a transgenerational context. Notably, risk and protective factors were identified as well as commonly incorporated coping mechanisms within the African American community regarding parenting philosophies and behaviors. This study has provided a foundation for future research on transgenerational or transferred trauma effects of the African American cultural lived experience, which could prove particularly useful for counselors who work with clients in this population. vi Keywords: transgenerational trauma, historical trauma, cultural trauma, inherited trauma, parent, caregiver, African American adolescent vii DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to many: first, to my mother, Emily Elizabeth Alexander, who has been gone from this earth since before this part of my journey began but whose presence has never left me. She worked hard, as the single white mother of a Black daughter, to instill in me significant life lessons, which have seen me through many trying experiences and shall see me through many to come. Her fighting Irish spirit lives on in me and in my daughters, Arielle and Amya, two strong Black women who make me proud every day. Arielle, my angel, you are and have been my motivation in efforts to become someone to be proud of. Your unflinching faith in me has propelled me in many of life’s efforts, and to you also I dedicate my most challenging academic effort to date. Amya, my princess, you have forced me to be honest with myself and to strive to be someone you can believe in. Your uncompromising spirit and willingness to be different encourage me to be my genuine self and to help others work toward that as well. To my husband, Dr. Anthony Todd Carlisle: you have been my calm through many of life’s storms, my best friend, biggest cheerleader, and the one person who could put up with me despite myself. There are no words to express my gratitude for your unwavering belief in my ability to accomplish anything I set my mind to, including this process. Thank you for expecting the best of me and wanting the best for me. Finally, I would like to dedicate this project to the scores students and parents in the Penn Hills School District who have supported me throughout
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